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It’s Black History Month, and one thing that I often see get lost every February is the history of Afro-Latin@s. Certainly Latino organizations and activism have a long, long ways to go here. But the always awesome Alt.Latino is an exception, and their Black History Month show – featuring Feministing Five alum Bianca Laureano of the LatiNegr@s Project – inspired me to put together a list of Afro-Latina women in music.

It’s nearly impossible to overstate the enormous contributions of the African diaspora to Latin music, and Afro-Latinas in particular have had and continue to have a huge influence on the Latin@ musical landscape. Below you’ll find a little sampling of a vast landscape of Afro-Latinas in music – from legendary mujeres to newer acts currently perfecting their gorgeous craft. Of course, these are just a few folks picked out of the rich and diverse musical traditions of Afro-Latinas, traditions with long histories that couldn’t possibly be covered in a single blog post.

First, let’s start with a few legends…

La Lupe

This Afro-Cubana – known as the Queen of Latin Soul – made music that was sexy and rebellious, plowing right through the taboos of 1960s Latin America (even if they weren’t really ready for that jelly). I love her unapologetic sexuality, the raw energy of her incredible voice. It’s hard to pick just one song, but her version of Fever holds a special place in my heart.

The Queen of Salsa, Celia almost needs no introduction – she’s on a postage stamp, and she even got her very own awesome Google doodle – but suffice it to say that she was one of the most influential musicians of her time and continues to be influential over a decade after her death. Also known for her boss fashions and colorful wigs, there is very little not to love about Celia. Warning, this video gets a little NSFW at the end!

Mariah Carey

Did y’all know that Mariah’s dad is Afro-Venezuelan? Mariah is everything in the whole damn world, from those killer pipes to the sheer mastery she displays in throwing shade. As with any legend, it’s hard to pick just one song, but this one A) is awesome B) has a video in which Mariah is cross-dressing which is obviously amazing C) displays her epic shade throwing mastery (in this particular instance thrown in Eminem’s general direction).

Now, while las reinas have their crowns for a reason, it’s also super important to shout out Afro-Latinas making their way right now, and lord there are so many newer and great Afro-Latina music makers these days:

Xenia Rubinos

Xenia’s album Magic Trix was one of my favorites of 2013, so much that right after I got out from being arrested in a civil disobedience I ran my tired ass across town to see Xenia play a short set. Damn, it was worth it. As I ran into the venue, she was playing Cherry Tree, this beautiful song about the work of forgetting someone she’s not quite ready to forget, but has to. The emotion in her voice, her lyrics, those layered beats – clearly so much talent here, and I can’t wait to see how she develops.

Goyo Martínez of ChocQuibTown

This Colombian hip hop group is great, and Goyo Martínez is badass in it. I love that they’re not afraid to get political, calling out the ways political corruption and racism play out for them. This song about the resilience of their communities is what’s up.

Lido Pimienta

I caught onto Lido Pimienta through this sweet song about spending a beautiful night with a lover you won’t see again, wishing it won’t end – set to Caribbean rythms that feel like home and with a video featuring colorful art and queer Latino love. A week ago she put out a few awesome new tracks from a recent recording session, which you can download here.

Maluca

This New York City Dominicana is the shit and she knows it. This song hasn’t really left the rotation for me over the last few years – it just never fails to make me feel awesome.

La Yegros

La Yegros’ approach to cumbia and her distinctive use and mastery of her voice have kept me coming back to last years’ Viene De Mi.

Gabylonia

Rapper Gabylonia, my paisana from Venezuela, is fire. This track about youth protest to the racialized abuse of power by the police (which Venezolanos Apache y Canserbero have tackled as well) is excellent.

Verónica is going to attempt to keep warm today by dancing to these jams.

New York, NY

Verónica Bayetti Flores has spent the last years of her life living and breathing reproductive justice. She has led national policy and movement building work on the intersections of immigrants' rights, health care access, young parenthood, and LGBTQ liberation, and has worked to increase access to contraception and abortion, fought for paid sick leave, and demanded access to safe public space for queer youth of color. In 2008 Verónica obtained her Master’s degree in the Sexuality and Health program at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She loves cooking, making art, listening to music, and thinking about the ways art forms traditionally seen as feminine are valued and devalued. In addition to writing for Feministing, she is currently spending most of her time doing policy work to reduce the harms of LGBTQ youth of color's interactions with the police and making sure abortion care is accessible to all regardless of their income.

Trans women of color have been all over the media lately due to the ongoing epidemic of anti-trans violence and murders, but it’s time to change that narrative.

Of course, 2015 has been rough. Though we are not even through February, seven trans women have been murdered in the United States this year. All but one were women of color, and most were Black. It’s important to say their names, it’s important to be outraged, and it’s important to demand an end to this long-running and ongoing epidemic.

But we can’t just care about trans women of color when they are dead. And I will not be complicit in creating a narrative about trans life that is only about ...

Trans women of color have been all over the media lately due to the ongoing epidemic of anti-trans violence and murders, but it’s time to change that narrative.

Future Brown is Fatima Al Qadiri, J-Cush, Aasma Maroof, and Daniel Pineda — a production super group making some of the most exciting and conceptually brilliant new underground club music out there right now.

Their highly anticipated self-titled new album features an all-star cast of vocalists and Jamz faves, including Maluca, Kelela, Shawnna, and several tracks featuring the up-and-coming Tink (whose Fader cover story in which she calls herself a feminist you should most definitely read). While it’s not coming out until February 24th, you can stream it over at NPR Music now, and trust: you don’t wanna wait.

Though they’ve been releasing tracks featured in the album over ...

Future Brown is Fatima Al Qadiri, J-Cush, Aasma Maroof, and Daniel Pineda — a production super group making some of the most exciting and conceptually brilliant new underground club music out there right now.

This weekend, Saturday Night Live celebrated the show’s 40th anniversary with performances from a slew of big name musicians, actors and comedians. However, among all those funny people, there was not one Latina cast member.

To date, SNL has never had a Latina cast member. In fact, most of its Latina characters are white people wearing “brown face,” performances that tend to highlight the show’s problems with race rather than make up for them. Last year I wrote about why Cecily Strong’s imitation of an ignorant and oppressed Latina woman next to enlightened white feminist Lena Dunham was offensive and incorrect. Around the same time, Feministing participated in #StillNoLatinas, a Twitter campaign organized by Latino Rebels to pressure the show into ...

This weekend, Saturday Night Live celebrated the show’s 40th anniversary with performances from a slew of big name musicians, actors and comedians. However, among all those funny people, there was not one Latina cast member.